The Sony Group continued to carry talks with Zee Entertainment Enterprises to merge their companies in India, the Nikkei reported on Wednesday, citing individuals concerned within the negotiations, after media stories earlier mentioned the Japanese firm was planning to scrap the $10 billion deal.

The talks will proceed till a Jan. 20 deadline to shut the deal, the Nikkei reported.

Bloomberg News reported on Monday that Sony deliberate to file a termination discover earlier than the deadline over an deadlock on whether or not Zee CEO Punit Goenka, who’s going through a regulatory probe, will lead the merged firm.

Zee mentioned stories of the deal falling by way of have been “baseless and factually incorrect”, and that it continued to work in the direction of closing the deal.

Shares of Zee rose as a lot as 4.5% after the Nikkei report on Wednesday.

They had closed about 8% decrease on Tuesday in its worst session since April 2021 on considerations about what a merger collapse would imply for the cash-strapped Indian broadcaster in a extremely aggressive market.

Analysts say the deal is essential to the businesses’ survival amid the looming merger of native heavyweight Reliance Industries and Walt Disney’s Indian media and leisure companies.

Sony India didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.

The merger, introduced in 2021, was delayed after India’s markets regulator final yr barred Goenka from directorships of any listed firm over allegations that he was concerned in diverting firm funds, though a tribunal lifted the ban in October.